2023 — Year in review
Years are assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Breach Census recorded 2,871 confirmed incidents in 2023. That is up from 2,457 in 2022, a rise of 414 incidents (16.8%). Incidents are assigned to a year by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date, and totals for the most recent years can still grow as new sources are confirmed and published.
The largest confirmed incident by records affected was at Palomar Health, which affected 1,140,221 records. Manufacturing was the most common sector, with 24 of the 112 incidents that had a sector assigned. The most common attack type among incidents with one recorded was Ransomware Attack, in 83 incidents.
Regulators issued fines totaling 33,416,000 EUR across 13 actions and 24,756,020 GBP across 12 actions in 2023. The most-reported jurisdictions were US-MA (2,023), US-CA (418), and US-WA (250).
Regulator fines by currency
Totals are not summed across currencies.
| Currency | Actions | Total |
|---|---|---|
| EUR | 13 | 33,416,000 EUR |
| GBP | 12 | 24,756,020 GBP |
By sector
| Sector | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| Unclassified | 2,759 |
| Manufacturing | 24 |
| Retail | 15 |
| Healthcare | 15 |
| Insurance | 14 |
| Finance | 13 |
| Professional Services | 10 |
| Technology | 8 |
| Hospitality | 4 |
| Pharma | 3 |
| Transport | 2 |
| Nonprofit | 1 |
| Media | 1 |
| Energy | 1 |
| Real Estate | 1 |
Top jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| US-MA | 2,023 |
| US-CA | 418 |
| US-WA | 250 |
| US-IA | 66 |
| US-DE | 59 |
| US-HI | 24 |
| GB | 18 |
| US-WI | 9 |
| US | 2 |
| US-NY | 1 |
| US-OH | 1 |
Largest incidents by records affected
| Organization | Disclosed | Jurisdiction | Records affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palomar Health | June 21, 2023 | US-CA | 1,140,221 |
| Premier Health Partners and wholly owned covered entities listed in description section below | October 12, 2023 | US-OH | 10,833 |
| Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center | November 2, 2023 | US-NY | 757 |
Questions and answers
How many confirmed data breaches were disclosed in 2023?
Breach Census recorded 2,871 confirmed data breach incidents for 2023, assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
What was the largest breach disclosed in 2023 on Breach Census?
The largest confirmed incident in 2023 was at Palomar Health, which affected 1,140,221 records.
Which sector reported the most breaches in 2023?
Manufacturing reported the most confirmed breaches in 2023, with 24 of the 112 incidents that had a sector assigned.